Carrier with handle



1965 -F. L. PHILLIPS, JR

CARRIER WITH HANDLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 16, 1961 Jan. 26, 1965 Filed June 16, 1961 F. L- PHILLIPS, JR

CARRIER WITH HANDLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [NI [N708 Hora L l filllLlPn/- United States Patent 3,167,212 CARRIER WITH HANDLE Floyd L. Phillips, Jr., Lynchburg, Va., assignor to Old Dominion Box Company, Inc, Lynchburg, Va., a corporation of Virginia Filed June 16, 1961, Ser. No. 117,697 14 Claims. (Cl. 220-112) In present day merchandising practices, many products such as food, granulated soap, and the like are packaged in rectangular-shaped parallelepiped paperboard car-tons for retail. As is the current custom, the packager utilizes different-sized cartons for packaging different quantities of a product, it being the practice to reduce the unit price as the quantity is increased. For example, the price of a ten-pound carton will be less per pound than the price of a two-pound carton. Such merchandising procedure has resulted in the cartons becoming unusually large. While such large cartons may be easily transported by the purchaser to the point of use, oftentimes the handling of the carton after it is open is very cumbersome and diflicult, thus taking away from the desirability of purchasing a large quantity at a cheaper unit cost.

Further, the retail stores have made it a practice to sell the plurality of cartons of a particular commodity at a cheaper cost per carton than a single carton. However,

diificulty is often encountered by the purchaser in transporting the plurality of loose cartons from the point of purchase to the point of use.

An object of the present invention is to provide a carrier made from paperboard or other suitably stiff but flexible fibrous material for packaging a plurality of similar sized rectangular-shaped parallelepiped articles which makes it easier and more convenient to transport multiples of such articles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a carrier which lends itself readily to the packaging of any rectangular-shaped parallelepiped article or articles which must be transported, the carrier being made from a single blank of paperboard material or the like and readily applied to the article.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a carrier for rectangular-shaped parallelepiped articles in which the articles may be placed for transportation, the

carrier being so designed that the contents of the same,

namely, the articles being carried, are exposed so that the advertising material on the articles is visible and the varticles may be inspected without removal from the carrier.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a carrier made from a paperboard blank or the like which may be collapsed into a relatively flat object when not in use so that a number of the same may be stored in a minimum space, the carrier being capable of quick and easy erection and application to the article or articles which it carries.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a paperboard carrier for parallelepiped articles, the carrier having a handle so arranged that the weight of the articles assists and maintains the carrier on the articles as the articles are being transported.

3,167,212 Patented Jan. 26, 1965 ice Still another object of the present invention is to provide a paperboard carrier or the like having a handle so positioned thereon that when the carrier is erected and applied to parallelepiped articles, the carrier with its contents may be nested or stacked with other similar carriers Without the handle interfering in the nesting of the same.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a carrier for supporting similar shaped articles which operate on the ice tong principle, the carrier being further provided with means to assist in holding the articles should the article vary slightly from a standard size.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following specification, claims and drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the carrier of .the present invention illustrating the same erected and applied to a plurality of rectangular parallelepiped articles;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view looking generally in the direction of the arrows 2-2 of FIGURE 1, the view also illustrating in broken lines a second carrier stacked or nested on the top wall of the first carrier;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the carrier of the present invention illustrating the partial application of the erected carrier to the plurality of rectangular parallelepiped articles;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the inner face of a paperboard blank used in erecting a carrier of the present invention, the view illustrating the score lines and cut lines of the paperboard blank;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged perspective fragmentary view of a typical corner of either a top wall or bottom wall of the present invention; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the paperboard carrier in its collapsed or folded position for storage or shipping.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like character or reference numerals represent like or similar parts, the carrier generally designated by the numeral 10 and as best illustrated in its erected and applied position, as shown in FIGURE 1, is formed from a blank of paperboard material or other suitably stiff but flexible fibrous sheet material, the blank being provided with suitable folding scores and cuts to define the various elements of the same. In FIGURE 1, the carrier 10 is shown applied to a rectangular parallelepiped object generally designated as 12 which may be a plurality of similar shaped rectangular parallelepiped articles 14, or it may be a single rectangular parallelepiped article of suitable size for accommodation to the carrier.

The carrier 10 comprises a top wall 16, a bottom wall 18 and a side wall 20 to which both the top wall and bottom wall are hingedly connected in spaced apart relationship. Top wall 16 includes downwardly depending flanges 22, 24 and 26 extending from its periphery except where the top wall is joined to the side wall 20. The bottom wall 18 is provided with upstanding flanges 28, 3t and 32 about its periphery except where the wall 18 is joined to the side wall 20. Extending upwardly from the junction of the top wall 16 with the side wall 20 is a handle 34 having a suitable finger hole 36.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 3, the rectangular parallelepiped object 12 having generally the same volume as the volume defined between the top wall 16, bottom wall 18 and side wall 20 is positioned within the flanges 28, 30 and 32 of the bottom wall and then the side wall is folded into contiguous relationship with the side object. 12. The top wall for which the carrier is constructed.

7 is folded down into contiguous relationship with the top. of the'object 12, the

' flanges 22,24 and 26 .encompassing the top of the ob- After this is accomplished, the object 12 may be carried by the carrier as the load imposed. upon thev ject.

carrier by the object when the carrieris lifted by the handle 34 causes the top and sidewalls 16 and 18, re-

and 24 are provided with 4 7 edges 68 and 70, respectively,

which are parallel to the ,fold lines 56and 58 so that spectively, to have an ice tong actionabout the object 12 to tightly support the same the'rebetween. I The downwardly depending and upwardly, standing flanges bear tightly, against the object 12 and hold the top andbottom walls 16 and 18, respectively, in contiguous engagement with thetop and bottom of the object.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, it will beqnoted that the carrier f when erected aud -applied to an object 12 lends itself to'easy stacking on the store shelfj as the" handle 34 does not interfere -with the carrier and its object stacked thereon. As ShOWIl,'lI1 broken lines in' FIGURE 2, the carrier .10 with its parallelepiped object 12is staeked on the top wall 16 of carrier 10, the handle 34 of the carrier nesting against the rear side of side wall provided with diagonally extending folding score lines- 82 and 84,1respectively. Adhesive is applied to the areas 4 of the flanges 22 and 24 outwardly of the score lines 82 and 84, respectively, as shown in FIGURE 4, and thus when the end flange 26 is folded downwardly along the The blank from which the carrier 10 is forme'd is best illustrated in FIGURE 4 and comprises an integral sheet of appropriate paperboard material or the like suitably cut and having folding scores so as top'rovide the top wall 16, sidewall 14, bottom wall 18 and handle 18, respectively, aretrectangularly shaped and have the approximate area of the total area'of the top and bottom of the rectangular parallelepiped article or articles top and bottom walls 18, the blank islpr'ovided with the rectangular side wall 20 and two flaps. 40 and 42-for forming the handle 34. Side wall 20 is rectangular and has an area apprmdmat'eIy the same as the total area of the Side Wall or Walls carried.

A folding score line '44 separates the flap 40 from the top wall 16 whereas a folding scoi'eline 46 separates the Intermediate the or thearticle or articles to be .34. In more detail, the top and bottom walls 16 and score line 72 with its corner flaps 74and 76folded at right angles thereto, the flanges 22 and-24 may be folded downwardly, along the score lines 56 and '58, respectively, with the adhesiveportion thereof securing the side flanges 22 andv 2419 the end flange 26-on the end flaps or tabs Y74 and 76. After the flanges Hand 24 have been v adhesiv'ely secured to theend flaps'74 and 76 of the end flange 26,.theflap 78 may befolded on the score line 80 through an are greater than 90 to" a position where it lies within the erected flanges 22' and 24.

Referring to FIGURE 5, a perspective view of a cor.- nerv formed as described above is disclosed. It willbe noted that the flap 76-of theend flange- 2 6. has been secured to the portion of the side flange 24goutwardly of the score line 84. When such a construction is made,

the top wall 16 defines a shallow tray-like member with,

the flanges 22, 24 and 26 depending d'ownwardl'y therefrom. r r i As mentioned above, the bottom wall 18 is constructed identically with the top wall 16 and the flanges 28, 30

. v and 321are folded and secured together in identically the same manner. Cons'equently, a description of the flap 42 from the side wall 20; A folding score line 48 separates the flaps 40 an 42 from each other.

shown in FIGURE 4," the' surfaces of the flaps'4ll and 42 T I V v opposes the tray-like member of the top wall 16; t

are coated with a suitable adhesive so .thatwhen the carrier is erected and the handle 34"isformed by folding along the score line 48' the flaps 40 and 42 are secured together to give the handle. a double thickness.

When folded uponrthe line 48, the -flaps 40 and 42 ad-" here to one another and the folding score lines 44 and' 46 lie in substantially contiguous relationship with each other so that effectively the top wall 16 is hingedly connected to the handle, 34 and the side wall 20 by the folding score lines'44a'nd 46. s I

The flaps 40mm 42 which form the handle 34 are provided with "similar cutouts 50 andfolding score lines 52. When the handleis'fo'rmed, the material encomfolding and securing together 'of the flanges of the bottom wall 18 isnot repeated herein, it'b'eing understood that when'flsuch flanges are secured together, the bottom wall 18 alsoformsasha'llow tray-like member which As best illustrated in FIGURE 6,'after the carrier has been erected by securing together the downwardly 'depending flanges of the top wall 16'and the upstanding flanges 'ofthe bottom wall 18, the carrier, when not in ,;use,. may be-folded into a substantially flat, rectangular member so that it, and plurality of similar carriers may betstored and'easilyfshipped to a pointof use. The folded carrier. of FIGURE 6 has the 'side'flanges of the top and bottom wall'1'6 and 18, respectively, .folded inwardly along their respective fold lines with the secured together portions of the sideflanges and the respective end flanges being folded inwardly along the diagonal passed by the cutouts 50 may be pressed out along the folding score line 50' to provide. the fingeropening 36-. I 1 Bottom wall 18 is separatedfrorn the sidewall 20. byj

a folding scor'e line 54 which [is parallel .to the folding score lines 44,, 46' and 48. The 'score line 54 provides hinged 'connection'bet'ween the side wall and bottom wall after the fold has'been made and Y tion of the carrier. 1 1 I The top wall 16 and bottom wall 1 8 are identicalin construction and are provided about their periphery except where they are respectively connected to the handle 34 and side wall 20 with the flaps forlprovidin'g the flanges 22, 24, 26, 28, 3t a'ndsz. In more detail, the flanges 22 and24 are provided on. the outer parallel longitudinal peripheral edges of the top wall 16 by fold-- ing score lines 56 and 58, respectively. 'Fla'nges 22 and 24 have diagonal outer edges 60 and 62, respectively, ex-;

tending from ea'eh of theterminal ends of the score lines prior to complete erec-' fold lines 82 and 84 of the side flanges. This is possible since the portion ofth'e flaps 74 and 76 which extends inwardly of the diagonal fold lines 82 and '84 is notadhesively securedi'tothe respective side flanges 22 and 24 at the'point indicate d'jby theletter, A-. 7

Referring now to FIGURES '2 and 3, it willb'e noted that when-the articles 12 ,are"placed ,in the. tray-like member formed by 'the bottom wall 18,, the upstanding flanges 28, 30 an'd 32. encompass a portion aroundthe v bott'om of the articles '12. Then the side wall 20 is folded aboutth'e score line 54 and thetray-like member defined by the top wall16 ,and its downwardly depending uflangesis slipped over the top portionof the articles '12.

lines in FIGURE 2 because of the natural resiliency of 7 equal tothe height of the.

the paperboard material used. By providing the flaps 78 folded in the manner heretofore described and having the natural resiliency to assume the position shown in broken lines of FIGURE 2 when the articles are placed in the carrier 10, the flaps 78 tend to wedge the articles between the same and the side wall 20. Slight variations in the size of the articles carried may be accommodated by providing such a flap construction.

The carrier hereinbefore described functions on the ice tong principle in that both the top wall 16 and bottom wall 18 are effectively hinged to the side wall 20 and when the tray-like members defined by these walls encompass the end portions of an article and the carrier is lifted by the handle 34, the weight of the article causes the top wall 16 and bottom wall 18 with their respective flanges to tightly encompass the article.

It will now be seen that the carrier of the present invention accomplishes the objects and advantages as heretofore described, and while a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated and described, the structure is susceptible to some changes and modifications without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the terminology used in this specification is for the purpose of description and not limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A carrier made from paper board material or the like for holding a generally rectangular shaped parallelepiped article or group of articles comprising similar opposed spaced top and bottom walls, a side wall, said top and bottom wall-s being pivotally joined to and free to pivot relative to said side wall, said top and bottom walls each having flanges extending from the peripheries thereof except where the top and bottom walls are joined to said side wall, said flanges of the respective top and bottom walls each having a height substantially less than the height of said side wall for encompassing opposite end portions of the article or group of articles while leaving a major portion of the article or group of articles exposed, and a handle extending upwardly above the top wall and in generally the same plane as said side wall whereby when said carrier is lifted, weight of the article or articles carried thereby causes the flanges of said top and bottom wall to bear against the article or articles and maintain the top and bottom walls parallel to each other and in contiguous relationship with the opposite ends of the article or articles.

2. A carrier of claim 1 wherein said flanges extending from the peripheries of the top and bottom walls are provided with fold lines whereby the flanges may be folded into substantially flat relationship with said top and bottom walls when said carrier is empty.

3. A carrier of claim 1 including flap members provided on marginal edges of the flanges of said top and bottom walls respectively which are opposed to said side wall, said flap members being folded inwardly toward said side wall and upwardly and downwardly toward the respective top and bottom walls whereby said flap members bear against the article or articles encompassed by the flanges of the respective top and bottom walls.

4. A carrier made from paper board material or the like for holding a generally rectangular shaped parallelepiped article or group of articles comprising similar opposed spaced top and bottom Walls, a side wall hingedly connected to said top and bottom Walls along respective marginal edges of the same, said top and bottom walls each having flanges extending from the remaining marginal edges thereof, the flanges of the top wall being joined to each other adjacent the corners of the top wall furthest from the side walls and the flanges of said bottom wall being joined to each other adjacent the corners of the bottom wall furthest from said side wall, said flanges of the respective top and bottom wall being arranged to encompass opposite end portions of the article or group of articles while leaving a major portion of the same exposed, and a handle carried by said side wall, said handle being arranged on said side wall whereby when said carrier is lifted by the handle, the weight of the article or articles carried thereby causes the flanges of the respective top and bottom wall to bear tightly against the article or articles and maintain the top and bottom walls substantially parallel to each other and in contiguous relationship with the opposite ends of the article or articles.

5. A carrier of claim 4 wherein the flanges of the top wall include a pair of opposed side flanges and an end flange, said side flanges each having a fold line extending from the respective corners of the top wall diagonally toward said side wall whereby the joined flanges of said top wall may be folded into substantially flat relationship with the same and wherein the flanges of the bottom wall include a pair of opposed side flanges and an end flange, said last-mentioned side flanges each having a fold line extending from the respective corners of the bottom wall diagonally toward said side wall whereby the joined flanges of said bottom wall may be folded into substantially flat relationship with the same.

6. A carrier of claim 4 wherein said handle is an extension of said side wall and lies in the plane of the same extending outwardly from where the side wall is hingedly connected to the top wall.

7. A carrier of claim 4 including a flap member extending on the outer marginal edge of one of said flanges of said top wall, said flap member being folded inwardly of the flanges and upwardly toward said top wall, and a second flap member extending from the marginal edge of one of said flanges of said bottom wall, said flap member being folded inwardly of the flanges of the bottom wall and downwardly toward the bottom wall.

8. A carrier of claim 4 wherein the flanges of said top wall include a pair of opposed side flanges joined to an end flange, each of the side flanges having an outer marginal edge extending from a point of junction with the end flange diagonally to said top wall and wherein the flanges of said bottom wall include opposed side flanges joined to an end flange, each of the side flanges of said bottom wall having an outer marginal edge extending from a point of junction with the end flange diagonally to said bottom wall.

9. A carrier of claim 4 wherein said handle is an extension of said side Wall and lies in the plane of the same extending outwardly from where the side wall is hingedly connected to the top wall, said handle being hingedly COl'li'lBClCCl with respect to said side wall and said top wal 10. A carrier for similar shaped articles comprising a paper board blank having a plurality of substantially parallel score lines; said blank being folded along said score lines to define a bottom wall, a side wall, a handle and a top wall, said bottom and top wall each being further defined by a pair of parallel score lines extending longitudinally of the blank and folded to define side flanges, each of said top and bottom walls being provided with a transverse score line to define a terminal edge of the same and being folded along the same to define an end flange, and tabs on each end flange whereby said end flange when erected may be fixedly secured to said side flanges so that said top and bottom walls define shallow tray-like members for receiving the end portion of articles to be carried.

11. A carrier of claim 10 wherein each end flange of the respective top and bottom walls is provided with a flap member on its free edge, each flap member being defined by a score line whereby said flap member may be folded inwardly of its respective tray-like member.

12. A carrier for similar shaped articles or the like formed from a single blank and comprising a side wall, a pair of opposed shallow tray-like members hingedly connected to opposite parallel edges of said side Wall and a handle projecting from said side 'WalLsaid tray-like'opposed top and bottom members being adapted to'encomr engaging articles to be carried when the tray-like top rand bottom members are placed about the end portion of the articles. g v a 14. A carrier of claim 13 wherein each flap member side wall.

depends from the edge of itsrespective tray-like member I which is opposite the edge of the same connected to said 7 V I 1 I 15 MORRIS MJFRITZ, Examiner.

References Cited by=the Examiner g UNITED --STATES"PYATENTS "2,314,895

- 3/143; PoWelL, V 4

5/43 7 s1evin 220 113 L 10/44 Bro'gde'n; 220198X 9/54 fGra 229+2s X 3/58 Strnble 229' 52 V 5/60 Buttery et 1. 2064 5.31 X

FO EIGN PATENTS 2/38 Great Britain.

GEORGE O RALSTQM'Primtiry Examiner. 

1. A CARRIER MADE FROM PAPER BOARD MATERIAL OR THE LIKE FOR HOLDING A GENERALLY RECTANGULAR SHAPED PARALLELPIPED ARTICLE OR GROUP OF ARTICLES COMPRISING SIMILAR OPPOSED SPACED TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS, A SIDE WALL, SAID TOP AND BOTTOM WALL BEING PIVOTALLY JOINED TO AND FREE TO PIVOT RELATIVE TO SAID SIDE WALL, SAID TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS EACH HAVING FLANGES EXTENDING FROM THE PERIPHERIES THEREOF EXCEPT WHERE THE TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS ARE JOINED TO SAID SIDE WALL, SAID FLANGES OF THE RESPECTIVE TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS EACH HAVING A HEIGHT SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE HEIGHT OF SAID SIDE WALL FOR ENCOMPASSING OPPOSITE END PORTIONS OF THE ARTICLE OR GROUP OF ARTICLES WHILE HAVING A MAJOR PORTION OF THE ARTICLE OR GROUP OF ARTICLES EXPOSED, AND A HANDLE EXTENDING UPWARDLY ABOVE THE TOP WALL AND IN GENERALLY THE SAME PLANE AS SAID SIDE WALL WHEREBY WHEN SAID CARRIER IS LIFTED, WEIGHT TO THE ARTICLE OR ARTICLES CARRIED THEREBY CAUSES THE FLANGES OF SAID TOP AND BOTTOM WALL TO BEAR AGAINST THE ARTICLE OR ARTICLES AND MAINTAIN THE TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND IN CONTIGUOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE ARTICLE OR ARTICLES. 